Do you know: I am Xu Jiazi

Chapter 473 Zai Zhang is so sensible! [Thank you! Goodbye! I owe you 37k more]

August 3rd,

2:00 am (around 7:30 am)
Shengjia Academy,

After reading for more than an hour, Xu Zaijing stretched hard.

While stretching, Xu Zaijing looked at the empty Arhat chair in front of the school with confusion.

At this time in the past, the scholar would have already sat in his chair.

Chang Feng, who heard the noise, tilted his head and said, "Brother Jing, do you know why the scholar hasn't come yet?"

Xu Zaijing shook his head.

Rulan on the other side whispered, "Is the old scholar sick?"

Just finished speaking,

Rulan looked at Changbai who was looking back at her. Knowing she had said something wrong, she immediately covered her mouth and lowered her head.

After a few words of conversation,
The school fell into silence again.

But because Mr. Zhuang was not there, the atmosphere was very relaxed.

Qi Heng, who was sitting in the middle, took a deep breath, put down his brush, looked out of the school in a relaxed manner, and glanced at Minglan by the way.

It's time (after ten o'clock in the morning)

"Cough cough."

There was a cough from far away outside the school.
After a while

Zhuang Xuejiu walked in with his hands behind his back and a folding fan.

Take a look at the school.
Zhuang Xuejiu could tell who was studying and who was just pretending in the school.

He walked to the Arhat chair and sat down.

"Tattoo!"

Zhuang Xuejiu tapped the table lightly with his folding fan.
When the students looked up, Zhuang Xuejiu said, "The examiners who will be presiding over this exam have already checked into the academy and locked up their rooms the day before yesterday. The examinees will have to prepare to enter the Imperial Examination Hall the day after tomorrow morning! I'm sure you all already know this."

Hearing this, Changbai, Qi Heng and others couldn't help but nodded slightly.

Everyone had an elder in their family who was an official, so they heard about the invigilator entering the Imperial Examination Hall that evening.

Zhuang Xuejiu continued, "But because of the emperor's birthday this month, many officials in the capital have been seconded to the Ministry of Rites."

"The emperor issued an order at the morning court today, and while the Ministry of Rites is crowded, they will speed up the examination. You will know whether you have passed the exam before the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Ah? Scholar, isn't this time too tight?"

Zai Zhang, who was sitting in the front row, spoke up.

Xu Zaijing and others nodded. In previous years, it would take at least 10 to 20 days to mark the papers after the provincial examination, but now it has been pushed to seven or eight days.

Looking at the people who were talking among themselves, Zhuang Xuejiu said, "This is not something you should consider. The important thing is to concentrate on preparing for the exam!"

Everyone should be
The sun sets in the west,

The sound of Zhuang Xuejiu lecturing in the school stopped.

After taking a sip of the somewhat cool throat-soothing drink, Zhuang Xuejiu said, "The imperial examination is a major event in life. You should pay more attention to your diet and daily life in the next two days."

"Yes, academic."

Changbai, Xu Zaijing and others nodded.

"Okay everyone, let's meet on the ninth day!"

After saying that, Master Zhuang stood up, waved his hand and walked out.

"Farewell, Scholar."

Everyone either bowed their hands or saluted.

On the second day,
The end of Mao time (7:00 a.m.)

Shouantang,
"Madam, please sit down!"

The old lady smiled and gestured with her hand.

"Yes, mother."

Wang Ruofu followed the direction of the old lady's hand and sat opposite the old lady.

"Mother, you said that Bai'er is the same. He finally doesn't have to go to school today! But I heard from Yang Hao that he got up early today and studied hard in the study room!"

Talking
Wang Ruofu smiled at Minglan who served her tea.

The old lady smiled and said, "It's a good thing that Changbai is working hard! Only after you pass the provincial examination can you continue to take higher exams."

"Mother is right. I am also afraid that Bai'er will tire himself out."

Mother Cui came over at the door, holding a handkerchief in her hand. After bowing, she said, "Old lady, Madam, Miss Wei and Brother Qian are here to pay their respects."

The old lady nodded.
Soon Wei Shuyi came in with a tray and her son. After the mother and son exchanged greetings, Wei Shuyi said:
"Madam, my dear, tomorrow my two sons will go to the Imperial Court, but it is already autumn and the morning wind is chilly. The two sons have to go early for three days in a row, so I embroidered two headbands for the two sons to protect them from the wind."

"If it's hot at noon, you can wear it to keep away sweat."

Hearing this,

Mother Fang took the tray and placed it on the small table above the bed.

Minglan took Changzhang to the side.

Wang Ruofu and the old lady each took a headband and touched it. The old lady nodded approvingly with a smile on her face. Wang Ruofu said, "You are thoughtful."

The old lady put down her headband and waved to Chang Qiang. When Chang Qiang came to her, the old lady hugged him and said, "Qian'er, when you grow up, you must take the imperial examination like your two brothers."

Chang Qiang glanced at Wei Shuyi and nodded heavily.

"Send it over."

Wang Ruofu said to Mother Liu.

There is a name of Changbai and Changfeng embroidered on each of the two headbands, so there is no need to worry about making a mistake.

Turn around,

On the first day of the provincial examination,

In the early morning, when it was just light, many people gathered outside the Imperial Examination Hall in Bian Jing.

The provincial examination is different from the metropolitan examination.
Although the examination lasted for three consecutive days, candidates could go home after entering early and leaving late every day, so they did not need to bring much with them.

In front of the Xu family carriage,
Xu Zaijing bowed and saluted: "Father, mother, sister-in-law, I am now entering the venue."

Xu Minghua and Sun smiled and nodded.

Xu Xingdai was awakened by his mother in Xie's arms. He waved to Xu Zaijing with sleepy eyes. When he turned to the other side and was about to wave to Zai Zhang, he looked into the air and whispered to Sun in confusion, "Grandma, where is my uncle?"

Sun gave Yongyi Hou Xu Minghua a blank look and pointed to the other side not far away: "Your uncle is there."

On the other side, the Sheng family is located.

Zai Zhang was walking towards the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall with Chang Bai and Chang Feng.

Wang Ruofu held Hualan's hand, looked at Zaizhang's back with satisfaction, and whispered to Hualan with a smile: "Your husband is sensible and asked you to come and see your brother off. His brother, that brat, didn't even bother to come and greet him."

Sheng Hong on the side pursed his lips, glanced at Wang Ruofu who was speaking with some disgust, and shook his head slightly.

Hua Lan said, "Mother, I was busy talking to my brothers just now and didn't ask you, where is Rulan?"

Wang Ruofu waved at Changbai and replied, "That girl hasn't woken up yet, so I didn't let her come with me."

"Mother, I'm not saying that you dote on Rulan too much."

"She is still young and doesn't understand." Wang Ruofu patted Hualan's arm soothingly.

"Mother, if it weren't for your son-in-law, I wouldn't have come here! Look at my eldest sister-in-law, she has been staying at Gu's house and never came over to talk."

Hua Lan said this and pointed in the direction of Ningyuan Hou Gu’s family.

There, Pingmei was holding Bai's arm, Gu Tingyi was holding his nephew Gu Shixing, and Gu Yankai was holding his little granddaughter with a doting look on his face.

Wang Ruofu looked at Pingmei, poked Hualan's arm with her finger, and said, "Then you didn't go back to your parents' home to see your brother like Zai Zhang's sister did last night! You are not as sensible as your husband!"

"I"

Looking at her eldest daughter who was speechless for a moment, Wang Ruofu raised her chin proudly.

Sheng Hong said, "That's enough! Hua'er is married to the Marquis' Mansion, so she can't come back casually. Go back, your mother and I are leaving too."

Hua Lan smiled and bowed to Sheng Hong who had helped her out: "Father, Mother, I will be there soon."

Wang Ruofu let go of her hand reluctantly.

Seeing Hua Lan turning to leave, Sheng Hong said, "Hua'er!" Hua Lan stopped and looked back, "Father?"

Wang Ruofu also looked at Sheng Hong curiously.

Sheng Hong instructed: "The Autumn Festival will be held a few days after the provincial examination. You must bring Zhong'er with you when you return to your mother's home!"

"My daughter knows."

Hualan said this with a smile and left with Cuichan.

When Mr. and Mrs. Sheng Hong saw Mr. and Mrs. Xu looking at them from a distance, they hurriedly smiled and bowed and nodded.

On the afternoon of the first day of the provincial examination,
At the gate of the Imperial Academy,
Xu Zaijing was walking side by side with Changbai, carrying a book box.

"Changbai, Goro!"

Gu Tingye quickly walked a few steps to catch up, and said excitedly: "Today's topic, we did it that morning."

Before Gu Tingye could finish his words, he saw Xu Zaijing shaking his head at him.

"Goro, what's wrong?"

Gu Tingye asked.

Xu Zaijing said, "Erlang, let's wait until the exam is over in three days before discussing the questions, so that nothing will affect the exam tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

Changbai nodded aside: "Erlang, Wulang is right."

Gu Tingye was stunned for a moment and then nodded repeatedly, but his eyes were full of joy.

It was quite far from the gate of the Imperial Examination Hall.
The three men's respective servants came forward to greet them.

After giving the book box to Qingyun, Xu Zaijing took the kettle handed to him by Hua Xiang and drank a sip of water.

Then, Xu Zaijing looked at a carriage in the distance with a sense of something.

After Zai Zhang walked out of the door, everyone left.

Quyuan Street,
At the second gate of the Marquis's Mansion,
Xu Zaijing and Zai Zhang got off the carriage.

Looking at the carriages and horses parked beside the racecourse, Zai Zhang wondered, "Who is coming?"

Xu Zaijing took a closer look and said with a smile, "It looks like the carriage from my fourth sister's house."

The two of them went into the backyard while talking.

"Sanlang, Goro is back."

Following the message from the female envoy,

Xu Zaijing and the other man entered Sun's room.

Zai Zhang looked at An Mei, who was sitting next to Hua Lan, and smiled as he stood up and bowed to her, saying, “Xiao Wu is right, it’s really you, girl!”

Xu Zaijing bowed and said, "Fourth sister."

An Mei smiled and nodded to Xu Zaijing.

After Xu Zaijing and Zai Zhang sat down,
Xu Zaijing asked, "Sister, my nephew didn't come with you?"

An Mei shook her head: "My mother-in-law said that Bi'er will come with me after the Autumn Festival in a few days."

The name of Xu Zaijing's little nephew from the Huyan family has been decided, and his name is Huyanbi.

"Looking at the two of you, I guess today is a pretty good day?"

Listen to An Mei's words,

Zai Zhang looked at Hua Lan proudly, and said to Xu Zai Jing with a smile: "Not bad, right, Xiao Wu!"

Xu Zaijing nodded.

"That's good! I will accompany my brother and Xiaowu to the Imperial Examination Hall early tomorrow morning, so that my father, mother and sisters-in-law can have a rest."

An-Mei laughed.

Xu Zaijing asked in confusion: "Fourth sister, are you staying at home tonight?"

An Mei shook her head: "Your brother-in-law's place is closer to the Imperial Examination Hall!"

Zai Zhang said angrily, "Why are you running back and forth? Just go there tomorrow morning!"

An Mei looked at Sun a little embarrassedly and said, "Since my elder sister is here, I have to come."

Xu Zaijing turned sideways to take the drink brought by Qingcao, lowered his head and took a sip. He knew in his heart that it was probably his mother who asked his fourth sister Anmei to come.

When An Mei came, her mother might have nagged her a few times: Your sister's marriage was not as good as yours, and your brothers were not attentive enough when they took the imperial examinations.

Then, with the fourth sister An Mei's lively personality, she would definitely argue that the third brother and the fifth brother would definitely pass the provincial examination if they studied hard, and it would not be too late for her to encourage them before the imperial examination.

Waiting for Xu Hou to return home,
When the family was having dinner, Xu Minghua, the youngest daughter, ate an extra bowl of rice.

After dinner, they talked for a while, and then Sun said, "Okay, it's getting late, and you have to get up early tomorrow, so let's go home."

Everyone stood up and left.

When I sent Anmei to the second gate,
Xu Zaijing vaguely heard his mother, Sun, who was walking in front of him, whispering a warning to An Mei: "If you still can't get up tomorrow morning, I will definitely not let you go!"

Chai family,

Qiushengyuan,
in the bedroom,
The armor worn by the puppet was polished to a shine, reflecting the candlelight in the room.

Fu Yi walked out carrying a copper basin of hot water.

Zi Teng squatted on a small stool and held Chai Zhengzheng's beautiful feet in her arms, wiping them carefully with a towel, and whispered, "Miss, I saw outside the Imperial Examination Hall this afternoon. Brother Xu was chatting and laughing with his classmates and looked very relaxed. I guess he was not stumped."

Chai Zhengzheng, who was wearing pajamas, supported himself on the bed with both hands. He glanced at the puppet and nodded, saying, "I heard that he has been getting up early every day to study these years. With such hard work, the provincial examination will surely not be difficult for him!"

"Young lady, you are right. We also have a good teacher like Zhuang Xuejiu." Yunmu walked over and said, holding a jewelry box.

Listening to Yunmu's words, Chai Zhengzheng laughed: "There is a reason why Zhuang Xuejiu's tuition is so expensive!"

As he spoke, Chai Zhengzheng put the dried beautiful feet back on the bed.

Yunmu put down the jewelry box, walked to the side to help Chai Zhengzheng with her hair, and continued: "Miss, the competitions at the polo field outside Jinming Lake have been very lively these days! The Liang family has invited you several times, why don't you go once?"

Hearing Yunmu's words, Zi Teng stood up from the bed and looked at Chai Zhengzheng with some hope.

These maids have heard about this a lot recently.

Chai Zhengzheng sat on the bed with his knees hugged: "The results of the provincial examination have not been announced yet, and I feel unhappy watching Polo, so it's better not to go."

Zi Teng said helplessly: "Miss, this is just the provincial examination. You will be so worried about the imperial examination!"

Chai Zhengzheng was speechless for a moment. After sighing, he whispered, "What can I do? I'm not sure of success."

Yunmu, who was standing behind Chai Zhengzheng, glared at Zi Teng who was speaking with some reproach, and said, "Miss, Zi Teng said that Xu's brother is very relaxed and may pass the provincial examination! Xu's brother and Gu's second son are also very good at playing polo. I think after the provincial examination, they will probably play polo and put an end to the prestige of the Bei Liao polo team's winning streak."

Chai Zhengzheng sat cross-legged, with his elbows on his knees, his chin supported by his hands, and hunched over, and whispered, "Well, it's probably going to be like this!"

Yunmu continued, "Miss, you, Zhang Wuniang, and Miss Tingyi are all good at playing polo. As the saying goes, three generals are better than Zhuge Liang. You can go to the polo field and take a look. Who knows, if the Xu brothers and others really face Northern Liao in the future, you can help Miss Tingyi and the others to make plans!"

Chai Zhengzheng's eyes lit up when he heard that. He slowly straightened his back and sat up straight. He turned around and looked at Yunmu with appreciation and said, "Yes! Then let's go tomorrow!"

On the second day of the provincial examination,
The first quarter of the afternoon (after 1 p.m.)

Not far from Jinming Lake in the west of the city,

Although the sun is big,

But that couldn't stop the side of Wu Building facing the polo field from being filled with guests dressed in silk and satin.

Looking around from Wu Tower,
You can see that the trees beside the polo field are full of people sitting or standing.

"Pumpkin seeds, chicken feet, sweet wine~"

In the tent inside the stadium, you can still hear the shouts of the surrounding vendors.

Rong Xian, who was on leave today, was looking not far away. There, Zhang Shipan, who was wearing an armband and a headband, was riding his horse and preparing to go on stage with high spirits.

Zhang Shipan, who is already handsome, looks really handsome after dressing up like this.

Rong Xian was a little depressed and spat on the ground: "Tsk! When there is no tiger in the mountain, the monkey will be king! This guy doesn't know that Jing Ge'er will not come here for the provincial examination today!"

A bunch of friends in the tent echoed the sentiment.

After cursing, Rong Xian looked at the tent of the Chai family not far away, and sighed: "Alas~"

Also at this time,

In the tent of the Northern Liao delegation's polo team,
Zhao Wei, who was preparing to go on stage, looked at the side in confusion and said, "Are we going to lose to this guy?"

"Yes, this man was born as a royal guard of the Great Zhou Emperor. We cannot offend the Emperor! And don't lose too fake!"

Zhao Wei dared: "Okay! I'll tell them right away!"

(End of this chapter)